I spent several weeks travelling around Europe in autumn/winter (October-December) 2023. I managed to travel through 10 countries in that time, having an amazing time seeing and doing so much!
In this blog, I’ll give you my guide to travelling Europe, giving you insights and tips on how you can visit the continent.
The Countries and Cities I visited
The Netherlands – Amsterdam
Germany – Kleve/Anholt, Munich, Berlin
England – London, Lake District
Switzerland – Basel, Geneva, Interlaken
Italy – Milan, Rome, Florence, Venice
Vatican City
Austria – Salzburg, Vienna
Slovakia – Bratislava
Czechia – Prague
Scotland – Edinburgh, Glasgow
I spent anything from a day trip to 5 days in each place. After about 10 days travelling, I did go home for a few days for a family event before heading back out on my travels. The itinerary above is slightly different from my origin plan which was to go to Paris, France instead of Basel, Switzerland – this was a slightly last-minute change of plan due to riots and unrest in Paris. I had a great time and, in this blog, I’ll go through what I noted about travelling around Europe.
Positives
Europe is relatively easy to travel around – with numerous trains or buses to get you around, you can travel from city to city or even country to country for as little as £1. You can get interrail passes or book as you go. Getting buses (such as FlixBus) is way cheaper than catching a train, it may just take longer to get to your next destination but not always.
It’s so easy to hit several countries in a short amount of time – I did 10 countries in 2 months and being able to travel so easily makes it perfect for both single and multi-day trips to different cities/countries.
Each country is very different. Multiple languages, multiple cultures, different histories – there is just so much to experience!
Negatives
Europe isn’t cheap – having travelled both Australia and several European countries, I kept comparing the two destinations. I found Europe way more expensive than expected and I was tight with my budget (more on this later).
Most European hostels have no kitchen or laundry facilities. Laundry facilities I can live without because there’s usually a laundromat close by which is quite fun to go to. But as for kitchen facilities, some didn’t even have access to a kettle or microwave which is really quite frustrating. This will add to your expenses and is not something I factored into my budget.
I found that most European hostels weren’t as social as they are in Australia. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if you are travelling with friends or within a group but when travelling solo, it does make you feel a bit lonely (but on the plus side, you don’t want to be sat around so it kind of forces you to go out).
Top tips
Take a bag of change. Most public toilets cost a euro or two to use – they are maintained and there is usually an attendant. Best thing to do is have a bag/purse of small change with easy access so you aren’t faffing about getting your purse/wallet out in busy places.
Get an e-SIM (a tip for all and any travel). Honestly, buying an e-SIM made life so much easier while travelling. There was no faffing about at train stations or airports trying to get a sim card or travelling with no access to internet. I use Holafly (click here for a 5% discount), they are affordable, reliable and have wide coverage. Having an e-SIM made booking tickets for transport and activities or even just looking something up on google maps, so much easier.
Do some planning. When I was planning my trip, I booked certain activities that I knew I didn’t want to miss well ahead of time. This also meant that I had already paid for certain things and felt this helped my budget while I was actually travelling. I also left spare time to either rest (important) or do other activities that had been recommended or advertised elsewhere.
REST. It is so important to have rest days while travelling. This would be when I would do laundry or catch up with journalling. I think, especially when travelling solo, it is important to have days when you’re not on full-time alert or doing activities and just have time to chill out. I don’t feel this was wasting time, I think it was important for my wellbeing and helped me not get burnout.
Check visa requirements! Following Brexit, entry requirements for British passport holders going to continental Europe have changed. These requirements are still changing so be sure to check out the latest information with the Foreign Office. If you have a passport from elsewhere, you’ll need to check what is required for you depending on which countries you are going to.
Don’t be afraid if plans change. I said at the beginning of this blog that my original plan was to go to Paris instead of Basel but had to change this due to unrest in the city. I also had to change plans when go to Bratislava, Slovakia due to a booking error (not my fault, it was the company’s) but that worked out for the better. Don’t be afraid if you’ve got to change your plans last minute and although it can be frustrating, just embrace it. It will work out in the end.
So… what is the true cost of travelling around Europe?
You are probably wondering how much it costs to travel around Europe for a couple of months. Here, I will give full disclosure on how much I spent on my trip.
Accommodation = £1771.31
I booked all my accommodation on Booking.com and mostly opted for the cheapest (but most decent looking) hostels and dorm rooms. Most of my hostels were really nice with just a couple I wasn’t keen on. Hostels are by far the cheapest accommodation option with some being as little as £20 per night.
Transport = £1274.69
This included multiple flights as well as trains, trams, and buses. Looking back, I wish I had either got an interrail pass or just used buses (FlixBus) to get around. For example, my journey from Rome to Florence cost £1.40 for a 3-hour bus ride, the same journey and length of time on the train was over £100.
Activities = £871.90
I pre-booked the majority of my activities on Get Your Guide. Other activities I booked on the day after recommendations from other travellers or on social media. Activities is what I spent the least amount of money on which was quite surprising as I did loads!
Other expenses (such as food, laundry, souvenirs, etc) = £1940.92
Food was my biggest expense despite only eating one proper meal each day. It was disappointing to find that most hostels in Europe didn’t have kitchen or laundry facilities, this meant my budget took a bit hit with these extra expenses. When I got to a new place, I would try to buy a bag of croissants or brioches to have from breakfast and then I would either eat a big meal for lunch or early dinner. It was extremely rare to have more than one big meal a day. I think I did laundry twice (in Rome and Berlin) as I packed enough clothing for around 2 weeks – luckily, I had gone home for a family event and then to visit family in the Lake District early on in the trip so was able to wash some bits for free. I don’t buy many souvenirs, I prefer to take millions of photos, but I did buy a few bits while in Europe. Other things to take into consideration is that in some places you need to pay a city tax (usually a few euros per person per night).
TOTAL SPENT = £5858.82
It is a lot of money. As I said early, travelling Europe is not cheap. The only way I could have saved more money was by staying at the crappiest hostels (I don’t mind hostels but have got some standards when it comes to staying in them) and doing no activities which isn’t the point in travelling. If hostels had kitchen facilities, I would have been able to spend way less on food which was definitely what I spent the most money on. Looking back, I probably would have used coaches such as FlixBus more than the train if I had known how much more affordable it would have been.
So, there we have it. I hope my guide to travelling Europe and the insights I’ve given, helps you with planning your trip to Europe. Europe is not cheap, but, it is fantastic to experience everything you can while you can.
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